


Button Eyes

by nightmareStag



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Camp camp au, Coraline - Freeform, Coraline AU, dadvid, hell yeah we're doing shit, lets go, oh i will find a way to worm it in there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-12-18 21:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11883111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightmareStag/pseuds/nightmareStag
Summary: While exploring the area around Camp Campbell, a boy named Max discovers an isolated tent, inside of which lies an alternate world that closely mirrors his own but, in many ways, is better. He rejoices in his discovery, until Other David (Daniel) and the rest of his parallel camp try to keep him there forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This AU belongs to boodles-art on tumblr. Thanks again for letting me use it!

Max tugs the fabric to close his tent tightly behind him. He adjusts his pull over quaintly and taps the tips of his swampers into place lightly before dragging his feet down the path into the surrounding woods of the camp ground. 

 

When his parents had told him they were sending him away to this god awful summer camp, he’d be lying if he had said that this was what he had expected. The grounds themselves seemed to breath uncomfortably with deep wheezes of tragedy and mystery. Fog swirled around the trunks of the trees that seemed dead against the gray haze of sky and the ground. Even Lake Lilac was still and reflective as a mirror to the haze and deafening silence of it all. 

 

He had heard that some kid had died out here a couple of decades ago. He had fallen down into some canyon or something and died right next to an equally unspecified little pond, and Max had wanted to find said canyon. Whether it was to prove that the kid didn’t really exist, or if he did and Max wanted to be the next to throw himself off the edge, he hadn’t decided yet. 

 

What he did know, was that a set of dowsing rods would do the trick to find water that wasn’t the creepily still lake. There was a dying bush next to the path he was about to take and figured that wood was just as good as any other. Max stuck his hands in and roughly ripped out two sticks, holding one in each hand. The alleged magic of elemental chakras was lost on him, and in his mind held the same position to religion in its fictitious depiction of something to beat man’s fears. He had no real belief that this would work, and also really had no idea what he was doing, but two sticks was better than blindly wandering in the woods for some hint of a stream. 

 

He walked around the activities field, each of the sectioned booths in utter disarray. Despite the rain, an impenetrable layer of dust seems to have settled over the sad excuses for activities.That half pipe was gonna kill someone one of these days and that stage quite literally looked about thirty seconds from collapsing in on itself. Not to mention the other kind of magic camp’s castle looking like it was made out of cardboard. He didn’t care either way. His camp was as mysterious and allusive as happiness in life seemed to be. At least Stupid David with his stupid eyepatch was too concerned with the arrival of the other campers to worry about him. 

 

As he continued to walk deeper into the forest, the rot of the dead trees around him put him further on edge than he would have originally anticipated. It was the forest for fuck’s sake- shouldn’t there at least be some birds or some wind or something? But, no, Max felt like he was walking through a painting as opposed to real place, like the silence was just as orchestrated as the winding in the worn path in the mud he was taking. Oh look! The sticks were crossed again.

 

The further he walked, the more overwhelming it all became. The trees ripped through the air like spindly hands as opposed to real things that either once were living or still are, and are simply awaiting their next chance to bloom. Regardless of their position, they creeped him out as he passed the edge of a slope. It wasn’t like he was necessarily scared- moreso he was on edge. He was waiting for something to jump out at him. As if on cue, a rock skipped down the path and hit his shoe from somewhere up the edge of the hill. He payed it nothing more than a passing glance before picking the offending object up and throwing it back into the ridge of boulders he assumed it came from. A trilling growl cut through the silence and Max looked just as unimpressed as he was when the rock fell. If what ever was in the rocks didn’t want to get hit with a rock, it shouldn’t have dropped on near Max. 

 

He went on, being lead by his sticks that were doing absolutely nothing. Maybe he was holding them wrong? No, it wasn’t that. He’s seen people do it on TV all the time. It was probably because none of this mattered or was real regardless of whether he was actually doing it the textbook  _ correct _ method anyway. 

 

A rustling the the dead grass draws his attention forward. There’s a tree stump in front of him where the path seems to end, and nothing but impenetrable tries all around, but that rustling is circling him and coming to a stop right on the other side of said stump. A cat, that was an odd sea foam green color jumped out of the grass with a vigor to rival David’s. She meowed at him loudly.

 

“What the hell is a cat doing all the way out here?” Max asked it, reaching his hand out to scratch her chin.

 

The cat swiped at him with a shrill hiss, but the playful glint in her eye gave away her intentions. Max deemed her no harm and turned his attention back to the sticks in his hand and his quest for dying. He walked back in front of the trail, his back facing the cat and her pedestal, and rose the sticks back in the air. 

 

“Stupid sticks, stupid sticks,” he sighed talking to both no one and the cat who seemed willing to listen, “Show me the stream!”

 

An ear shattering honk rang out in the silence. Max’s head shot up in the direction of a kid who was quite nearly a whole head taller than him slide down the hill with what looked like an air horn in his hand. The cat forgotten behind Max, seized the opportunity to swipe at Max’s hand again and knocked his sticks to the ground. The kid with the horn, who ever he is, picked them up gingerly with gloved hands and inspected them, jumping onto the stump where the cat once was.

 

He tilted his head to the side. “Let me guess. You’re from Texas or Utah- some place dried out and barren right? I’ve heard of water witching before, but all that magic stuff is just a load of bullshit, you know? It’s just ideomotor movements. It’s the same thing as ouija boards.”

 

“I know that, asshole,” Max barked stepping forward and punching the kid in the shin, which causes him to drop Max’s sticks. “And I don’t like being stalked. Not by annoying assholes- or their fucked up, green cats!” He adds once she jumps up to him.

 

The brown haired boy gives max a quizzical look and glances down at his side. “Oh, Nikki isn’t my cat. She lives out here in the forest,” he explains, and bends down to pet her tenderly. “Of course I do feed her after meals, and sometimes she’ll come to my tent and leave me little dead things. 

 

“Like hell you need to know where I’m from.”

 

The kid gives his attention back to Max, confused at the outburst.

 

“And if I’m a  _ water witch _ , then where’s the cliff that kid fell off of?” 

 

He jumps and lunges off of the stump, Nikki stalks toward Max. 

 

“If you stomp to hard, you’ll fall off of it. It’s not really a cliff more like a hole that was made by a stream that used to run downhill into the lake, but it’s all dried up now. The hole itself is supposed to be so deep that if you fell to the bottom and looked up, you’d see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day.”

 

Nikki digs at the ground where max was standing and revealed what looked like a wooden platform underneath his feet. He picks up his sticks again.

 

“How the hell are those two things connected?” Max asks, rolling his eyes. 

 

“I don’t know man, I’m just telling you what I heard.” He turns his back on Max, and stares down at the camp ground below. “I’m surprised they let you come up here. David normally has a tight lock on people going this deep into the forest.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“He had a friend, or something back when ‘he was a bright young camper, much like ourselves’” he says, impersonating David on the last bit. “I think he died or whatever. Anyway, I’m Neil.”

 

This kid had a voice to rival nails on a chalkboard. He was naisily and shrill and talked way to much for Max’s taste. And what the fuck is he just carrying an air horn around for? 

 

“What did you get saddled with?”

 

“I wasn’t saddled with anything,” he groans, “It’s Max.”

 

“Max?” He asks tossing the name around in his mind. “It’s not very  _ scientific _ , but I’ve heard that having an ordinary name, like Max, would lead someone to have ordinary expectations about a person.”

 

Max prepares to go off on this kid for his assumptions when David’s voice calls their names from somewhere down the hill. 

 

Max groans audibly and Neil starts to walk back down the path.

 

“Well it was great to meet a real ‘water witch,’” he mocks, much to Max’ chagrin. “But I’d wear gloves next time.

 

“Why?” Max growls

 

“Because those sticks you’re holding,” he gestures to Max’s hands where he’s tapping the wood between his hands. “They’re Toxicodendron diversilobum.” 

 

“What?”

 

“Poison oak,” Neil states flatly.

 

Max drops them immediately and glares at Neil’s back as he takes off back towards the camp.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“What were you two thinking?! You could have gotten lost, or-or hurt, or you could have died!”

David had not stopped prattling nonsensically since Niel and Max had made it back to camp. He probably had his reasons to be upset- misplaced regret for his dead friend who probably actually existed and all that. Whatever the reason, Max is getting annoyed by David’s tedious rant. It was something he did often, and unfortunately for him, he had reached his limit with in a day of arriving at Camp Campbell.

“Heaven forbid the Wood Scouts got a hold of you-”

Gwen had looked equally cross for all of ten minutes before abandoning the campers for some magazine. While Max definitely prefers her disposition to David’s, she is nearly as neglectful as his parents, and with that, comes a whole flurry of emotions that he isn’t quite ready to deal with. He has a belief that if you work with children, even if you hate it and didn’t get paid enough, you should never let the children know that. It makes them develop some sort of inferiority complex. He doesn’t really mind, but he knew that for some of the other campers, like the ones that were actually here to have fun, it was a real drag to have Gwen be one of the councilors. For Max, it is one less annoying, piece of shit councilor to pester him.

Max had long stopped listening to David. He was simply staring with glassed over eyes at the space he last remembered the man occupying. Neil was there with him somewhere in the background, but Max was fixated on the pseudo hole. He wanted to go down it. He wanted to know exactly how deep it was, and if Neil was right about the stars. It was far more exciting than sitting here getting nagged by David, anyway. Max knew that he probably shouldn’t mess with it, but that really only made him want to do it more. 

He decided he would explore it again once everyone went to bed. 

David dismissed him to go participate in his activities, but didn’t specify beyond that. Max figured he could find that annoying kid that talked too much. What was his name again? Oh! Neil. He seemed to have some major dirt on this whole shtick. He could watch Meredith kill herself on that shitty half pipe she insisted on skateboarding on. Max decided to go start another argument between Nerris and Harrison instead. 

Those two were both impossibly easy to rile up. Max believed that it stemmed from the ideology that both of them had something to prove to one another and also themselves. He could empathize with that- the need for personal self validation and also the validation of others, but that didn’t stop him from taking advantage of it. He stalked across the activities field, avoiding the eyes of his fellow campers as they watched him. Approaching Nerris’ cardboard death trap, Max called out to her from on top the tower. 

“Hey Nerris, I’ve got a question for you.”

Her response was just as undesired as Max was. “The sorceress is not taking inquiries at this time.” She waves her hand dismissively, and Max rolls his eyes.

“Haven’t you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?”

The voice comes from Neil who has Nikki with him again. Max quirks an eyebrow at him as he approaches but doesn’t respond beyond that. Neil arches his back just so while Nikki brushes against Max’s legs. He bends down to pet her gingerly and she purrs loudly in response.

“Oh fair Narris the Cute!” Neil bellows bowing before the horrid excuse for a castle. “The alchemist and the...” He gives Max a once over, “Rogue... of Fort Campbell wish to seek council with the sorceress.”

“Council is granted.” she cheers, leaning over the edge of her tower. “What’s up, Neil? Max.”

She says his name like it’s poison in her mouth, and he can’t help the grin that scrapes at his face. It’s a good distraction for wanting to knock Neil’s lights out for that display he just pulled. 

“I’ve got a question for you.” 

“Okay.” She seems seems skeptical and she has every right to be.

“What kind of street magic would there be in your dumb D and D campaign?”

He can almost feel Harrison’s head whip in their direction while Neil raises his eyebrows and prepares for Narris’ rant. 

She scoffs, “There is only real magic involved in the quest.”

“Oh but Narris, you dumb fool, Narris,” Harrison chanted as if on queue, “Max did ask you about real magic! The art of illusion!!” 

“No it’s not, Harrison. What you do is cheap parlor tricks and vegas-style showmanship. There is no place for you in a real battle,” She spits at him from on high.

Harrison smiles wickedly at her. “There isn’t anything real about the magic that you do. It’s all in your head, Narris- just like any belief you carry in the value of your fictional wizards.”

Narris is getting more red in the face by the second and Max takes a seat in the dirt. These fights are always fun to watch as, in his opinion, they’re both wrong. Neil seems to get the idea and joins Max on the ground. Nikki sits between the two of them, watching the exchange with wonder in her eyes as the argument becomes a show. There’s fire and plastic swords being thrown around with abandon in such a way that Max isn’t sure where to look at first. On one hand, Narris could be turned into an elf crisp, but she could also bludgeon Harrison to death and that would be funny. 

It’s amazing the way that people are fueled by their passion. He’s seen on tv a lot, on all those murder mysteries, where people were motivated by their emotions to do something horrible like murder or kidnapping. Of course, an argument between a couple of eleven year olds wasn’t gonna end up in murder (unfortunately), but it is fun to visualize all the ways that you can predict behaviors to develop into future people. Children especially are easy to read and get a rile out of. He figures it’s because of a lack of maturity on their part, which is also why David was easily manipulated as well. It wasn’t even maturity so much as naivety, and while Max knew that his hands were far from clean, he knew that he was harder to manipulate than others- more that he was aware of the tactics. He had used them more often than not to upset people to drive their attention away from care and would look at him with agitation instead of adoration. He believed that it was better to be hated than to have people scruitinize so closely that they see what’s wrong. 

He would have fun as a psychologist, but he refuses to be in Gwen’s position.

Nikki starts to walk away and Max decides to follow her. No doubt David was gonna come out pointing fingers, and Max can’t handle another “Disney binge with David” as his weird form of positive reinforcement. Max thought it could be considered cruel and unusual punishment, but Big Hero 6 was alright. 

Nikki lead Max over to where Erid was practicing skating, and Dolph was sketching. He didn’t really have any problems with either of them aside from Erid’s aloof behavior being perceived as something to aspire for. Everyone looked up to her, himself excluded, and he believed she was undeserving. Dolph was cool though. He was a little Hitler-y but Max doesn’t think that that is intentional, more so an unfortunate mistake. Dolph doesn’t seem to mind- either that or he’s too dumb to notice, but Max thinks he’s a nice kid. Ignorance is bliss after all. Erid’s skateboarding is pretty neat. 

Nikki has completely bypassed Dolph and immediately jumped to bat at Erid’s shoelaces on her boots. Neil caught up with the pair and much to Max’s chagrin, immediately opened the air for conversation.

“Hey, Dolph, what are you drawing?”

“I’m drawing all of ze campers. V’e are all in front of ze Mess Hall like on ze first day photo.” 

Neil plops down next to Dolph and starts to inquire about the drawing, the shading and proportions and a series of other things that Max doesn’t really catch. Erid is attempting to go down the halfpipe with Nikki on her board, and Max decides that that’s a better watch than Neil and Dolf prattling on about art. Nikki looks determined as all hell and Max thinks it’s rather amusing for the feline.

Erid tips the nose of her board over the edge of the ramp and Nikki makes a deep growl in her throat. When she kicks off the flat top, the board goes with them both as they zoom down the first half of the ramp. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for Max, who was looking for something exciting to happen) The front wheel of Erid’s board gets caught in a nail that’s poking out of the feeble ramp and both members go flying face first into the other side. Ered groans low and deep in her throat while Nikki makes that same spitting yowl she did when Max threw that rock at her. He’d have to apologize for that.

David did come over this time, practically running from where he broke up the fight between Narris and Harrison.

“E-Ered, are you alright?” His voice squeaks higher than a mouse and it grates on Max’s ears like nails on a chalk board. 

This camp is bullshit. There’s no money to do anything for anyone that’s even remotely worthwhile, and while Max can attest that that isn’t exactly the fault of the councillors, David’s insistence that everything is fine and perfect is ignorant to the point of annoyance. He doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand the way that people can just look past all the facts and believe that there is good in everything. It’s a lie. There isn’t good in everything. In fact, there isn’t good in most things. Well that assertion isn’t exactly fair either. Nothing is ever so black and white. There’s good and bad of everything but there always seems to be so much more evil and by far it is always easier to be evil. Max tries to live in the grey. He tries to take a step back and never openly be evil of ever be too good. He’s not a monster, but he isn’t a saint either. 

He’s considered a bad kid but more so because he challenges authority and not because he’s inherently bad. He’s never assaulted someone without rightful reasoning. He’s never gotten into any trouble with the law either. But, he’s never gotten awards for citizenship and he’s not spending his weekends at a soup kitchen either. 

Everything has the same capacity to do or be good as it does bad. David tries so hard to make the bad of camp good and it breeds bad through lies and cop outs, but Max breeds bad by not letting anyone have their fun when they find it. 

David adjusts his eye patch and hoists Ered up into his arms to take her back to camp. 

“Alright everyone!” He calls addressing all of the campers that crowded at the sound of the crash. “It was just a small crash, and Ered will be fine. Just let this serve as a reminder to always be very, very careful.”

And with that in mind, Max retires to his tent, away from Neil and David and the rest of those that can’t see the world the way he does.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like what I do, and want to support me, follow me on tumblr at leaky-ink-ghost.tumblr.com, and click on my donations page.
> 
> And hey,
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
